HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — About two dozen employees with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers learned Hands-Only CPR on Wednesday.
The training was held at the AdventHealth Training Center in Tampa. Employees learned CPR and how to use a defibrillator.
"We opened up this training to all of our employees just to try and give them the opportunity to get comfortable with trying to save someone in need whether it’s personal or whether it’s on game day at Raymond James Stadium," said Brian Ford, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Chief Operating Officer.
About 350,000 cardiac arrests happen outside of hospitals each year. According to the CDC, seven out of 10 occur at home. CPR can double or triple a person's chance of survival.
Earlier this month, a man suffered cardiac arrest and collapsed at a Tampa Bay Rays game. Another fan ran over and performed CPR.
In January, Buffalo Bills star Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field after suffering cardiac arrest. He received CPR immediately and survived.
"I think the Damar Hamlin incident really opened up everybody’s eyes because it put it in the spotlight; nobody had a chance to look away. Everybody got to see what an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is all about," said Alexander Tubonjic, an EMS specialist with AdventHealth.
Damar Camacho was one of the CPR instructors at Wednesday's training. She said if you are experiencing heart attack symptoms, call 911, and do not drive. She also said symptoms may differ in men and women.
"The clear-cut chest pain also when patients or people complain of shortness of breath, dizziness, weakness, they can complain of nausea and vomiting even flu-like symptoms and sweating, also jaw pain," said Camacho.
"Women show different signs and symptoms than men typically. One of those is the complaint of flu-like symptoms, have body aches, I hurt all over. I just feel weak, under the weather, or I've had nausea and vomiting, fevers and chills."
Heart Disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States, according to the American Heart Association. One person dies every 33 seconds in the United States from cardiovascular disease, according to the CDC.
"The best possible thing you can do for them is to dial 911, put your phone on speaker, and beginning compressions immediately," said Camacho.
